


Assuming the Meaning of Flowers

by Possum_Down



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, FFA AU, Flowers, M/M, Mentioned Boscha (The Owl House), Skarlow, Studying, barnowl au, its just them studying with a little bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:21:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29414778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Possum_Down/pseuds/Possum_Down
Summary: Skara. Or as she was better known, Boscha’s right-hand man, second only to Amity. Sharp, cocky, and popular, she didn’t hesitate in helping put others down. At least, that's how Willow saw her.She didn't know why she would be interested in floriculture.Skarlow fic for the Barnowl AU!
Relationships: Willow Park & Skara, Willow Park/Skara
Comments: 5
Kudos: 30
Collections: Barnowl AU





	Assuming the Meaning of Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place between Chapters 4-8 of my [I Wanna Be A Cowboy, Baby](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26877736/chapters/65580724) fic, so I recommend reading that if you want a bit more context! It's not needed though :^)

When the CDE events had first started, Willow didn’t have much hope for the floriculture team.

To be honest with herself, however, that may have just been her mind jumping to conclusions. Willow was excited about her first choice for a CDE event getting picked, sure, but she wasn’t excited about the people on her team.

Jerbo wasn’t that bad. His constant fretting and paranoia didn’t make him the best leader, but at least he was prepared for anything, making the team work hard to try and memorize everything before their first competition. Willow didn’t think he enjoyed the competition as much as the others, but she supported him nonetheless.

Amelia was fine as well. Sure, she was on the football team with Boscha and sometimes hung out with the bully after school, which wasn’t ideal. But she acted better in floriculture and the couple of other classes they shared, so it was fine. They weren’t friends by any means, but they didn’t hate each other.

And then there was Skara. Or as she was better known, Boscha’s right-hand man, second only to Amity. Sharp, cocky, and popular, she didn’t hesitate in helping put others down. At least, that's how Willow saw her.

Again, to be honest with herself, Willow hadn’t interacted with the other girl much. The only time she ever saw her was with Boscha, and maybe occasionally while walking to another class. Skara didn’t seek her out, and Willow returned the favor.

Or at least, she did, the girl joined the floriculture group. It was a shock, not just for Willow, but for Jerbo and Amelia as well. They assumed Skara would have joined horse judging, and followed Boscha after all. 

Willow, Jerbo, and Amelia all had reasons for being in floriculture. While Jerbo and Amelia did admit it wouldn’t have been their first choice, they both were interested in the agriculture field at least. Willow was already enrolled in the actual floriculture class at school, and it was one of the events she voted for the chapter to participate in that year. It would have been ridiculous not to join.

But Skara? Skara, who didn’t enroll in any other agriculture classes? Skara, who was almost always zoning off in class? Skara, who didn’t have much of a reputation besides sticking close to Boscha, and being given the “best dance proposal” award in the yearbook with her ex-boyfriend last year? What did she know about floriculture?

The group had begun to study for their upcoming competition at Glandus as soon as possible. Floriculture was one of the more difficult events to do, and everyone had to pull their weight if they wanted to succeed. Jerbo had passed out the informational packets, and they had begun strategizing, planning for next week.

“Now, everyone's gonna have to learn the identification, problem-solving, and general knowledge on their own time so we can focus on the practicums in school,” Jerbo muttered, running his finger down the scoring list. “So please try, and don’t forget.”

“How are we gonna practice all of the practicums? A week isn’t nearly enough time to figure them all out.” Amelia waved the packet in front of her, an eyebrow cocked. Jerbo winced at the question, and Willow had to agree with boys worrying. There was no way they could get through all of the practicums in just a week.

“We're gonna have to prioritize,” Willow stated, flipping through the packet. The others leaned in to watch as she got a marker, and began checking off some of the practicums. “Most of us know how to do some of these things already. Jerbo, you know how to pot clippings, right?”

The tall boy nervously folded his arms. “Yeah, I do.”

“And Amelia, you can figure out the selling practicum?”

The other girl nodded, flipping to the page in her packet. “Sure, doesn’t seem too hard.”

“Then don’t worry about those. Flip through the packet and mark off what you can do. Then, you can ask someone else to show you what you don’t know, and we can use class time to work on the group activity section.” Willow glanced over to Skara, who had been quietly watching the others this whole time. She gave the girl her best polite smile. “Don’t worry if you don’t know something. We’ll get it down.”

As the group silently began to work, Willow missed the frown and annoyed look that Skara was giving her.

“Hey, Willow!”

The girl stopped, turning around to see who had called after her. It was after school on Wednesday, and she had been making her way to the bus, already being late after talking to Luz and Gus for too long. So she wasn’t exactly thrilled when she saw Skara running to catch up to her.

“Oh, hey,” Willow gave a curt smile before shooting a quick glance in the direction of the bus. She didn’t want to end up calling one of her dads to come to pick her up. “What is it?”

“You're in the floriculture class, right?” Skara grabbed onto the strap of her tote bag, giving Willow a friendly smile. “Could you show me how to do the flower practicums?”

There was a brief pause before Willow slowly turned her head to look at the other girl, eyebrow cocked. “The flower practicums?”

“Yeah, y’know? Like, the corsage making and floral arrange-”

“You joined the floriculture group without knowing anything about flower arrangements?”

Willow saw a brief flash of something in Skara’s eyes before the other girl suddenly clasped her hands together, a pleading look on her face. “Pleeease Willow, common! Can I just come to your house after school today and you can show me? I really want to make sure I got it down before Saturday!”

Willow nervously leaned back as Skara leaned in, eyes wide as she tried to convince the bespectacled girl. Willow looked over her shoulders to the front of the school, where she could hear the last calls for her bus. She turned back to see Skara fluttering her eyelashes, and Willow sighed, defeated.

“Fine, you can come over. Just be there at five!” Willow called to Skara as she started running towards the bus.

Skara waved to the other girl, a grin plastered to her face. “Don’t forget to text me your address!”

Willow was in her room cleaning when Skara arrived. She had spent the whole bus ride regretting her choice to let the girl come over. What if this was some evil scheme cooked up by Boscha to get dirt on her? What if she made Willow do all the work, and then flopped at the competition? What if she didn’t show up at all?

She really didn't have a choice in the matter. As she stepped off the bus and began the walk back to her house, Willow knew that she would just have to roll with whatever happened, and hope that Skara wouldn’t be too unbearable.

She had gathered a few clippings from her garden, stole a vase from the cupboard, and was trying to tidy her room when she heard the door ring downstairs. Looking over the items spread on her floor, Willow put her hands on her hips, trying to boost her confidence. This would be fine.

As she went downstairs, she could already hear her dads talking at the door. Great. She stomped down the rest of the steps and turned into the hall to find both of them talking to Skara as she hung her coat in the mudroom.

“-surprise! We didn’t- oh, there you are, flower!” Her father said, tugging on his beard as he heard her come down the stairs.

“We didn’t know you had a friend coming over this afternoon,” her dad grinned, wiping his dirty hands on his apron. Must have just come in from the field. “I would have made snacks! And gotten cleaned up a bit.”

“Skara’s just over to study. FFA stuff.” Willow went and grabbed the other girl by the arm, pulling her to the stairs. Skara waved as she was whisked away, Willow’s dads gladly waving back. “Thanks for letting her in!”

“Your welcome! Let us know if you need anything!”

“Ok! Love you!”

Willow didn’t let go of Skara until the two were safely in her room, away from embarrassing parents. She shut the door, sighing, before turning around to see the other girl examining her room. Skara had run over to the plants by her window, gently looking over them, before stepping back and examining the pictures and poster hung up on the white walls.

“Wow, this place is comfy.” Skara spun around in the middle of the room, before flopping backwards onto the bed. Willow watched in bewilderment as the other girl made herself comfortable, padding over the carpet to look down at her. Skara looked back at her, grinning as she sat up. “So, what's the plan?”

“Well…” Willow glanced away, softly walking and sitting down on the ground where she had set up. She could hear Skara slip off the bed behind her and soon saw her sit down beside her. She began to gather the flowers in front of her, sorting them by color. “Since making a corsage is pretty easy, I thought we could go over the floral arrangement first. And since we’ll be handling plants, I figured I’ll also show you how to pinch and propagate the flowers, although it’ll be different in the real competition.”

“Oh, no need to do those last two. I already got that down,” Skara chirped, already reaching out to help sort the plants. Willow paused in surprise at the news, staring at the other girl in amazement. Skara noticed the silence, of course, and seeing Willow’s shocked look, gave her an amused smirk. “What?”

“Nothing.” Willow looked back down at the flowers in embarrassment, realizing her mistake. “I didn’t know Jerbo and Amelia had shown you that stuff already.”

“They didn’t.” The deadpan tone made Willow look back up, to find the other girl looking slightly peeved. Skara avoided her eye. “My mom did.”

“...Oh.” Willow had to look away again. The mood had just gotten very awkward, and there was a silent lapse as she tried to figure out what to say. “I just assumed-”

Skara interrupted her. “That I know nothing?”

Willow coughed, still trying not to meet the other eye. “Well-”

“Well, I do.” Skara had a sour look on her face and had stopped sorting the plants, wringing her hands instead. Willow could tell she had messed up, also stopping and placing her hands in her lap. She glanced at the girl next to her from the corner of her eye. Skara looked like she fighting with herself, and before Willow could say anything, the girl turned, leaning over with her hands clenched in fists over her chest.

“Look, I know you and Jerbo and Amelia think I don’t know anything about floriculture, but I do. Maybe not as much, but that doesn’t matter! I’m gonna try just as hard as you guys!”

Willow leaned away, startled by the sudden outburst. “Skara-”

“No, listen! I know you don’t like me, but I don’t want you to think I’m dumb! I can do this! I'm not a bully! I'm not like her!”

Silence. Skara leaned back, hunching over on herself. She looked away from Willow, ashamed of her words. Her legs folded up, and her arms wrapped around them as she rested her head on her knees, looking away.

Willow felt like shit. She hadn’t realized she had been treating the other girl  _ that _ badly. She had been just trying to protect herself, keep Skara away so she wouldn't pick on her. At least, that was what she had justified it as.

She hadn't meant to act so mean.

She didn't want to be like Boscha.

And she wasn't going to. She was gonna make things right. Willow tentatively reached out a hand, resting it on Skara’s knee. She saw her glance down at it before looking away again, too distressed by her own words to say anything. Willow sighed, scooting closer.

“...Skara, I’m sorry.” Silence. “I.. I judged you before I even talked to you.”

Skara softly muttered. “That's what everyone does. It’s cause I hang out with Boscha.”

Willow winced at the mentions of the bully, before shaking your head. “But that doesn’t make it right. It makes me an ass, in fact.”

There was the faintest twitch at the corner of Skara’s mouth, and she finally turned her head back to properly look at her. Willow smiled and gave the quiet girl a determined look. 

“Look, we're teammates. And I shouldn’t treat you like that. So I promise, from now on, I won’t push you away or assume you don’t know anything. Ok?”

Willow could tell the other girl was mulling her words over in her head. Skara slowly let go of her legs, taking Willow's hand that still rested on her knee as she sat back up again. She gave it a squeeze, before suddenly entwining her pinky finger with the other girls.

“Ok. And I promise you, that I won’t act like  _ her _ .”

Willow nodded and smiled. “It’s a deal.”

The tension eased after that. Willow actually began to talk to Skara and realized just how much the other girl actually knew about plants. Apparently, her mom was an agronomist and had made her help in their home garden when she was little. Skara complained that it had been boring, but at least all that teaching was useful now. 

“I’m much better with artistic stuff than science,” Skara had stated when they actually began to set up the floral arrangements. And Willow had to agree, she really was. Skara quickly picked up the hang of it, and even when she had done a practice test with the competition pricing guidelines, Willow found herself impressed by the display. For someone with so little practice, she had a great eye for beauty.

They even had time to make a couple corsages, which Skara seemed especially excited about. As they twisted the flowers and ribbon together, Willow couldn’t help but giggle at the other antiques as she faux posed and flaunted her finished piece.

“You better be careful with that thing, Skara,” Willow advised, watching the other girl swing her corsage around. “These ribbons aren’t the strongest.”

“Oh, it's fine.” Skara began to twirl the corsage around her finger, sticking her tongue out at Willow, who rolled her eyes. “You're just impressed by my masterpiece!”

The corsage suddenly flung through the air, twirling off of Skara’s finger. There was a dull thwack as the bundle hit the ceiling, and just like Willow predicted, the ribbon snapped. Flowers and leaves rained down onto the girls, most of them falling on Skara’s head.

Willow couldn’t help giggling again while Skara stood in stunned silence, petals sticking in her hair. 

Skara was mostly cleaned up by the time she had to leave.

Willow walked her to her car, wanting to say goodbye without worrying about her dads doing anything embarrassing. She carried the floral arrangement, insisting Skara kept it so she could practice before the competition on Saturday. Skara promised to bring back the vase when she was done.

“Hey, Willow?” She turned to see Skara wringing her hands, looking down at the ground to avoid the other's eyes. “I’m still sorry that I yelled at you earlier. It kinda just.. came out of me.”

Willow gently smiled, shrugging. “Hey, it needed to be said. I  _ was _ being an ass.”

Skara snorted. “Just a little.” 

They stood there, smiling at each other. The two didn’t say anything, but they could tell that whatever problems had been stewing between them had subsided, fading away as the afternoon passed. Willow wouldn’t call them ‘besties’ or anything like that, but whatever they were now, it was better than before.

Skara was about to leave when Willow noticed something. “Wait!”

She froze as she was getting into her car, and Willow raised a hand to gently pluck a flower from her hand. It was one of the daisies from the corsage, and Skara giggled when she saw it. Willow was going to toss it on the ground when the other girl suddenly plucked the flower from her hand. 

“Here,” she giggled, moving closer. Willow didn’t move as the other girl gently placed the flower behind her ear, fixing it before flashing her another grin. Their faces were close together now, and Willow really couldn't help but notice that Skara had a very pretty smile. “A flower for a friend.”

Willow couldn’t help but grin back.

Willow watched Skara drive away, the sun going down in the west. She walked back inside to find her dad’s setting the dinner table, and she moved to help. Her father gave her a warm smile before a worried look suddenly came onto his face. “Oh, flower, next time you go outside bring a jacket.”

Willow shot him a bewildered look as she set a plate down. “What do you mean?”

“Well, your face is all red and flushed, hun. I don’t want you catching a cold.”

**Author's Note:**

> Formal apology to all the Boschlow simps
> 
> BUT, ya Skarlow supremacy. They just... both nice. And sweet. And I feel that Skara is actually redeemable, since she she is kind neutral like Amity was, but doesn't have a bad past with Willow like Amity did. BASICALLY, there's potential, and they are cute together. Also, Skara being in bard track=she's very artsy and good at composition, so she would ROCK at floriculture. And would def know the symbolism behind flowers ;^) even if that isn't actually used in floriculture


End file.
